All yachties are keen on their knots and Heath and I have just finished a nice 8 strand rope to 10mm anchor chain splice, and it’s a ripper. What’s it do? Well, boats need anchors so they stay where you leave them. The anchors are attached to chain. We have 60m of chain on board. That may seem a lot…but the amount of chain you put out is dependent on the depth of the water you are anchoring in and the prevalent conditions. In a quiet bay with a gentle breeze you may choose to put out 3-4 x the water depth. In the same bay, when its blowing 40 kts you may choose to put out nearer 10x the depth to ensure you are firmly attached to the sea bed.

There comes a limit to the amount of chain you can store, so many cruisers opt to have a combination of chain and rope., hence the need for a splice between the two. Our original splice was in poor condition so we had a crack at weaving a new one and it turned out great…let’s hope it holds. No pressure, its just our Just our home at stake if it fails.

To any non yachties reading this, the splice, unlike the clove hitch, is of absolutely no use in the bedroom and therefore is probably of no interest to you whatsoever, unless, of course, you’re into chains !!